The "8 1/2 x 11 News" is published each week by the Department of Public
Relations. News of campus interest should be sent to
Ed Delaney,
412-268-1609 (ed47@andrew.cmu.edu) or Bruce Gerson, 412-268-1613 (bg02@andrew.cmu.edu). The
newsletter is available on the official.cmu-news and cmu.misc.news
bulletin boards.

Universal Pictures will release on Dec. 21 "A Beautiful Mind," a film that chronicles the amazing life of 1994 Nobel Prize Winner and Carnegie Mellon alumnus John F. Nash Jr. As a student in the mathematics department at Carnegie Tech, Nash exhibited such outstanding talent that at graduation in 1948 he received both bachelor's and master's degrees. As a young mathematician at Princeton in the 1950s, Nash developed formulas establishing the mathematical principles of the "Game Theory" of economics, eventually winning the Nobel Prize in Economic Science 40 years later. He has been called one of the greatest mathematical minds of the 20th century. In the film, Oscar winner Russel Crowe portrays Nash's biographic tale of intellectual elitism, his 30-year battle with schizophrenia and eventual recovery, and acceptance of the Nobel Prize.

PIONEERS IN COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE WIN PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE

Two pioneers in the field of cognitive neuroscience, experimental psychologists James McClelland and David Rumelhart, have won the $200,000 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Psychology. McClelland is a University Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science and co-director of the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. At Stanford University, Rumelhart was a psychology and computer science professor until 1998 when he went on leave for medical reasons.

The two psychologists began collaborating two decades ago on a cognitive framework called parallel distributed processing. Their research group explored the concept of connectionism‹the idea that no single neuron in the human brain does its job alone in processing information and that neural networks decide things collectively and simultaneously rather than just in sequence. Their findings continue to affect many subfields of psychology, such as decision making and language development, as well as the expanding fields of economics, engineering and artificial intelligence. Further information is posted on official.cmu-news for Nov. 29.

DOWD ENGINEERING SEED FUND ESTABLISHED FOR GRAD STUDENTS

The Philip and Marsha Dowd Engineering Seed Fund has been established to help identify novel research projects that could possibly elicit government and/or industry support in the future. Administered through the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES), the fund will provide a fellowship grant to a College of Engineering graduate student in the second or third year of his/her Ph.D. program. To initiate the selection process, faculty will submit proposals describing the projects students will work on and a curriculum vitae for each student to the director of ICES. The call for proposals will be issued on Jan. 30 and due by April 1.

FREE FINANCIAL ADVICE FROM VANGUARD AND TIAA/CREF

Representatives from TIAA-CREF and Vanguard, Carnegie Mellon's retirement plan administrators, are available to provide personalized one-on-one financial planning services for you and your spouse or partner at the Human Resources Office, 143 S. Craig St. (Whitfield Hall). There is no charge or obligation for these services.

To schedule an appointment with TIAA/CREF on Dec. 13 or 14 call 412-803-3653 or 877-209-3136.

BLACKBOARD WORKSHOPS SCHEDULED FOR DEC. 12 AND 13

The Office of Technology for Education (OTE) is offering the following hands-on Blackboard workshops to faculty, staff and teaching assistants who are preparing to use Blackboard next semester. Dec. 12: "Setting Up Your Blackboard Course Site." Dec. 13: "Adding Content to Your Blackboard Course." 1 to 2:30 p.m., OTE Lab, Cyert Hall, A72. Register at ote@andrew.cmu.edu. The complete Blackboard workshop calendar is posted on http://www.cmu.edu/blackboard/help/calendar/

HUMAN RESOURCES CAN ADVISE YOU ON YOUR CAREER PLANS

Carnegie Mellon employees are welcome to discuss their jobs, career plans and job opportunities with a Human Resources representative, who will, upon request, offer confidential assistance to you on resume preparation and effective interview techniques. Call 8-2047 for an appointment to discuss your interests fully. Appointments can be scheduled before 8:30 a.m., during the lunch hour and after 5 p.m., as well as during regular working hours.

Equal Opportunity Services is in need of volunteers to read books onto audiotape for the upcoming semester for students who are learning disabled or visually impaired. Tapes and recording equipment will be delivered to volunteers and picked up. If interested, contact Larry Powell at lpowell@ andrew.cmu.edu or at 8-2013.

The Purnell Center's Montage Banners won first place in the Signage/Graphics category of the Industrial Fabrics Association International competition last month. 114 companies from 13 counties had entered the competition.

PERSONAL MENTION

"The Woman's Guide to Navigating the Ph.D. in Engineering & Science," written by Barbara Lazarus, Lisa Ritter and Susan Ambrose, ranks 16th on the engineering bestseller list compiled by Yankee Book Peddler (http://www.ybp.com). The announcement made by the Library Journal Academic News Wire is based on sales to North American academic libraries during October 2001. The book's goal is to give readers enough help to overcome the stereotypes and hidden barriers that women may encounter in preparing for the Ph.D. degree.

Alan W. Cramb, the POSCO (Pohang Iron and Steel Company) Professor and head of the Materials Science and Engineering Department, has been selected as the Elliot Lecturer of the Iron and Steel Society for 2002.

Elizabeth Delhagen, a chemistry major in the Mellon College of Science (MCS), is one of six finalists in AT&T's "Wannabe a VJ" competition. Delhagen is in second place in the online voting, which will determine the finalists who will travel to the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City for the two VJ (video jockey) openings. To vote, go to http://www.xplorethegames.com/attwireless/vo2_vjDetail_elizabeth.asp

Belinda Carol Thom, Ph.D. candidate, School of Computer Science, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar research grant to the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, through August 2002.

Elaine A. King, professor, College of Fine Arts, recently presented the paper "Interplay of Idea, Myth and
Reality" in New York at the School of the Visual Arts conference on "The Spiritual in Art."

Leonardo Balada, University Professor of composition, has released a collection of his most recent modernist recordings on the international classical music label Naxos. The CD features Balada's "Piano Concerto No. 3" (1999), "Concierto Magico" (1997) and "Music for Flute & Orchestra" (2000) performed by the Barcelona Symphony conducted by Jose Serebrier. The CD is available in Pittsburgh at Borders and Curtin Call.

Ted Fenton, professor of history, emeritus, is the author of "Laugh the Blues Away: A Bluefish Cookbook." ($9.95). The book contains 50 recipes with amusing drawings and comments from Fenton's family and friends.
The book is available in the University Shoppe.